Advocates Say Tax On Vitamins Would Be Counterproductive

AP Photo/Paul Sakuma

A consumer examines vitamins at a Costco store in California.

(Host) Vitamins and other dietary supplements could soon be taxed in Vermont.

But not if consumer and health care groups have their way.

As VPR's Bob Kinzel reports, they say the tax would defeat the state's efforts to promote healthy lifestyles.

(Kinzel) Rich Harvie is a co-owner of the Montpelier Pharmacy.  The store has a fifteen-foot section stocked with dietary supplements on eight shelves from floor to ceiling. He says the proposed tax would affect virtually every product on his shelves.

(Harvie) "Vitamin D, supplements, which are very, very important: fish oil, calcium, all of the B vitamins, multi-vitamins. It would be huge... magnesium, glucosamine _ a lot of people take glucosamine for joint pain. It works great. I do myself. That'll be covered. A lot of things."

(Kinzel) And Harvie wonders why lawmakers are considering imposing a tax on products that help many people stay healthier.

(Harvie) "It doesn't make sense to me to increase the cost at all on people's health care if that's going to make them less healthy."

(Kinzel) A coalition of 17 consumer and health care groups is urging the Senate Finance committee to drop the plan from a miscellaneous tax bill.

Gail Katz is a spokesperson for the group:

(Katz) "What the House has done is that it has put a tax on a measure that could help prevent all sorts of illnesses and diseases and in the long run will not save the state any money."

(Kinzel) Bernie Noe is a naturopathic physician who has a practice in Montpelier.  He says it makes more sense for lawmakers to tax soda and candy.

(Noe) "So these supplements are efficacious, they're inexpensive and we should be encouraging their use, not discouraging their use. We would very much like to see sugar and soda taxed. Every day in our practices we're trying to get our patients to stop using sugar and soda. It increases the risk of heart attack and stroke, of diabetes, certain cancers and many other chronic diseases."

(Kinzel) Washington Senator Ann Cummings is the chairwoman of the Senate Finance Committee.  She says she agrees with the coalition.

(Cummings) "I have to say it's a compelling argument. So ...we do have to raise the money. I think it was $1.3 million. And so we are looking at other avenues to raise that money."

(Kinzel) Cummings says putting the sales tax on candy and soda could hurt stores along the New Hampshire border - so she's looking at imposing an excise tax on these products. That's an approach that's currently being used with beer and wine products.

(Cummings) "That's another option we could look at with soda pop. ...So we don't want to make it more difficult on those merchants. But an excise tax would be figured in the wholesale price."

(Kinzel) Cummings says her committee will consider alternatives to the dietary supplement tax later this week.